Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to electronic commerce and, more particularly, relates to a method and system for use by parents to restrict purchases made by children, for example.
Related Art
Electronic payment for products purchased at brick and mortar stores is common. Such electronic payment can be made using cards, such as credit cards, debit cards, and gift cards, for example. Such electronic payment can be made using security tokens, such as software security tokens and hardware security tokens, for example. Whether the electronic payment is made by card, security token, or another means, a payment provider, such as Paypal, Inc., can facilitate the payment.
The payment provider can facilitate authentication of the purchaser, determine if the purchaser is authorized to make the purchase (can determine that the purchaser has not exceeded a deposited amount, e.g., for a debit card or gift card, or has not exceeded a credit limit, for example), and can facilitate the transfer of money from the purchaser to a merchant so as to pay the merchant for the purchased product. The payment provider can pay the merchant with money previously deposited with the payment provider by the purchaser, can transfer money from a bank account of the purchaser, or can bill the purchaser for the amount of the purchase.
Location-aware social networks such as Foursquare and Google Latitude provide apps for mobile devices like cellular telephones. By using such an app, a social network member can check in at a location. Checking in at a location allows other, selected, members of the social network to view the location of the member.